


Which One?

by ramblingsofagaysian



Series: Apples, Trees, Chips, and Blocks [1]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F, Family Feels, Fluff, Snow Fic, just pure fluff, they deserve to have some fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 14:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17685650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramblingsofagaysian/pseuds/ramblingsofagaysian
Summary: Charity Dingle HATES snow. Vanessa Woodfield absolutely loves it.OrA fluffy family snow day.





	Which One?

**Author's Note:**

> With all the weather recently, I got an idea for a nice fic to try and wrote it to try and cheer knightsinrainbowarmour up. Can't help but love having my favourite couple and their kids playing in the snow for the day.

It’s around ten o’clock when Charity wakes up, it’s one of her few mornings off and she has every intention of enjoying it with her girlfriend - no - fiancée in bed. The light filtering through the gap in the curtains looks a little off, like it’s brighter than normal.

She begrudgingly untangles herself from the warmth of Vanessa and her duvet and peers out the window. Outside, it’s pure white with snow and it’s still coming down in sheets.

Snow.

Charity Dingle _hates_ snow.

It’s cold, wet, and it sticks to your clothes and makes it so much worse. It makes trying to go anywhere impossible and she just hates it.

She lets the curtain fall and crawls back into bed, back to comforting warmth and curls herself around Vanessa. The dip of the bed and movement is enough to stir Vanessa and she groans in response.

“Mm, morning”, she burrows her face into Charity’s neck and it’s so cute she can’t help but smile.

“Morning, babe. Looks like today’s a day for staying in bed”, it’s said as a throwaway comment as she pulls Vanessa closer, pressing a kiss into her hair.

“And why’s that?” Vanessa looks up at her as she asks.

“Because the snow’s coming down in sheets and this bed is nice and warm.”

What Charity doesn’t expect is for Vanessa to shoot up and out of the bed to look out the window. True to word, it’s still snowing and Vanessa’s face lights up.

_Oh no._

Vanessa is practically bouncing on her feet as she starts pulling out warm clothes from the wardrobe, throwing the various items on the bed.

“Uh, babe. What are you doing?” Charity already knows the answer she can see in her face. They’re going outside and she is _not_ happy about it. 

“Come on, let’s go outside!” she looks like an excited puppy with the way she’s bouncing around.

“But it’s cold!” Charity whines a little, in the hopes that she might, _might,_ just convince Vanessa to come back to bed.

“Please!” the syllables are drawn out, “We never get snow, and the kids will love it,” but Charity still doesn’t look convinced.

“You can go out without me, you know”, she’s still fighting it even though she knows she’ll cave. She always does.

“But it’s better if we all go out, especially with there being the three of them. We need two of us to keep them right”. She says it with such conviction that Charity is sure that Vanessa could sell ice to a polar bear, if she hadn’t become a vet. 

Vanessa _knows_ that she could get anything she wanted out of Charity if she pushed for it. Though, she still doesn’t look convinced.

Charity sees the thought of mischief cross her face and she knows what’s coming.

“No. No, no, no, no, no. Don’t do it. That’s not fair,” but it’s too late. Vanessa is already giving her the best puppy dog look she can give and Charity feels herself cave at the sight. 

“Fine”, it comes out in an exasperated sigh with an accompanying eye roll, “Good to know where Johnny gets that from.” Vanessa starts bouncing on the spot and she really does look like an excited puppy. Besides, how can anyone say no to that?

They get themselves together and just as they go to get the boys, they come barrelling through the door, “SNOW SNOW SNOW”. They’re half dressed and Moses has his shirt on backwards and it looks like there’s no going back now. 

Charity laughs while trying to get Moses to settle long enough to fix his shirt and makes a mischievous suggestion, “How about you two go and get Noah up while we get your jackets and wellies ready?” They both yell their enthusiasm and run off to wake up a soon to be very grumpy teenager.

 

* * *

 

Twenty minutes, some overly excited wriggling three-year-olds, and a deal involving hot chocolate, they’re all ready to go out and play in the snow, sledges included.

When they step outside, it’s like the Beast from the East’s slightly younger brother has hit the Dales. The street is buried under about 6 inches of pristine snow and both the kids practically dive into the undisturbed sheet as soon as they get the chance.

It makes both Charity and Vanessa chuckle and even Noah cracks a little smile at the two of them before joining them in the snow.

Johnny and Moses are determined to build a snowman, and they pull at Noah until he relents (he’s very quick to cave to Johnny’s own puppy dog eyes and Charity can’t blame him).

It becomes a whole family effort, Charity and Vanessa both joining in with the build. Johnny has decided he’s in charge and is barking out orders as best he can, waving a stick around to direct where things should go.

“He’s got a right bossy streak in him, that one. Just like his mum,” she nudges Vanessa, teasingly. Vanessa puts her hand over her chest with a look of faux indignance and gives Charity a light shove as she laughs.

“Which one?” they both turn to Noah, who is in the middle of rolling a large ball of snow. He gives them a toothy grin before going back to work and it throws them both for a loop before they look back at each other. They’ve got their own infectious grins and they lean in for a gentle kiss that blooms warmth in their chests.

Johnny is quick to tell them to get back to work and they part with a small giggle followed by a firm “Yes, sir!” with an accompanying salute.

 

* * *

 

By the time they finish, they’ve made three sizable snow people, and the boys decide that the biggest one is Noah, with the smaller ones being themselves. Charity takes a picture of them all standing next to their respective snow twin.

It’s when she’s looking back at the photo to show Noah, that she’s suddenly hit on the side of the head a snowball. When she turns to find the perpetrator, she sees Vanessa forming another in her hand and a cheeky grin adorns her face, issuing the challenge.

“Oh, it is on”.

The onslaught of snowballs start flying between them and the boys join in too, making it an all-out war. The sounds of laughter fill the street and a fair few snowballs hit their marks, square on the head.

Half an hour passes before a ceasefire is called. They’re all standing there, rosy-cheeked and out of breath. But Charity isn’t one for losing, and takes one last dive at Vanessa.

The tackle takes her by surprise, a small  _oof_ leaves Vanessa’s lungs as they land in a pile of snow. Charity is on top of her, laughing away at herself. Snow dusts her hair and her cheeks are red from the cold and the exertion from the snowball fight, her laughter is so light that it makes it hard to believe that Charity has lived through some of the worst of the world. And in this moment, Vanessa thinks, she is absolutely beautiful and she can’t help but lean up and kiss her.

“PILE ON”, Charity tries to protest but it’s too late, the three boys are already running, Noah is midair, and they all land on top of them, now it’s Charity’s turn to let out an _oof._

They roll around a little, all laughing away until their cheeks hurt from smiling before Vanessa says it’s time to go back inside and heat up.

 

* * *

 

Noah and Charity are getting the boys out of their jackets and wellies while Vanessa is off to put some milk on the hob for some hot chocolate for everyone, as promised. They’ve had the debate, the two of them, over which tastes better; heating milk over the hob or in the microwave. Vanessa says hob, Charity says it doesn’t make a difference, Noah just likes it either way (he prefers it on the hob too but he’s never going to let Vanessa know that).

Vanessa has a small collection of hot chocolate from Whittards of Chelsea and no one is allowed to touch them but her. The various flavours get set aside for special occasions or particularly bad days. Today, however, has Vanessa in a very good mood and so she decides to break it out for Charity, Noah, and herself.

Johnny and Moses are already playing with their toys on the floor while Noah and Charity are at the table, flicking through some photos that she’s taken.

She sets the boys’ mugs down on the coffee table and leaves them to play, then sets Charity and Noah’s down before getting her own. She’s given them both the mint one, she knows they love it but are too scared to ask for it even on a good day. Their eyes light up when they realise that Vanessa isn’t the only one with fancy hot chocolate and it’s clear as day that they’re mother and son.

Vanessa leans over, to see some of the photos that Charity has managed to take. Lots of photos of the boys building their snow people, Moses lying face down in a heap of snow, Johnny with his stick of command, she’s even somehow managed to catch an action shot of Noah being hit in the face with a snowball.

That’s when Noah pulls out his own phone, pulling up his camera roll to show them a few photos that he took too. He wants to show them one in particular. It’s one of them kissing after he had asked which one of his mums’ Johnny got his bossy streak from. He’s glad he managed to get the candid shot, the light frames them nicely with the snow falling around them. Another is after Charity tackled her, she’s laughing while Vanessa is looking up at her, full of love. Vanessa asks him to send them to her and he’s more than happy to oblige.

They’ve long since finished their hot chocolate, the mugs sitting in the sink along with the pot to steep, when Charity gets a message from Chas.

_I thought you might appreciate this._

It’s a photo of the five of them amidst their snowball fight. Noah had his arm cocked back, about to launch the projectile, Vanessa is half crouched over, turning away from him in the hopes he misses, and she’s in the middle of being chased by Johnny and Moses with a couple of snowballs herself.

Chas must have gone out to check on them and took the photo. It makes her smile, the sight of her little family having fun. To not be worrying about some sort of impending drama.

 

* * *

 

Later that night, Charity is lying in bed, playing on her phone and catching up with the general goings on of Facebook. Vanessa joins her in bed and presses a kiss to her temple and snuggles in.

Charity comes out of the Facebook app and takes a good long look at her new lockscreen.

It’s a profile shot of Vanessa looking over at the boys. Her woollen hat has fallen off and snow dusts her hair too. She’s got a smile brighter than the Spanish sun and her eyes are as blue as a clear summer sky.

So yeah, Charity hates the snow.

But she loves Vanessa, so maybe it’s not so bad after all.


End file.
